This Weblog or "Blog" contains articles, events and opinions that support capital punishment in North Carolina and elsewhere. Author(s) of the contents are exercising their rights to free speech which unfortunately is often stifled or ignored by the media.
Contrary to what you might read or hear in the news, North Carolinians should be proud that an occassional and deserved execution is allowed to proceed.
- Wayne Uber

Friday, March 08, 2013

IS THERE CLASS DISPARITY WITH EXECUTIONS?

Is There Class Disparity with Executions?Dudley
SharpOne may presume, as do I, that wealthy capital murderers have a
better chance of avoiding execution by their obvious ability to hire better
counsel.Presumption is not fact.Is there class disparity? Maybe, but, possibly, immeasurably small.It appears, solely, dependent upon one's definition of "wealthy" and "poor", as to whether wealthy murderers are any more or less likely to be executed, based upon the very small number and percentage of capital murders that are committed by the wealthy, as compared to the poor.======There is a limited study, which for me, is fairly conclusive that hired private counsel makes a huge difference.

From the brief (1). V. Conclusion

Death penalty opponents charge that socioeconomic status shapes capital
punishment. Wealthy defendants who can hire counsel are exempt from death, but
poor defendants who must accept appointed counsel are condemned.

My findings both support and refute opponents claims:

--- Hiring counsel for the entire case not only eliminates the chance of
death, but also dramatically increases the chance of an acquittal.

--- Hiring counsel for a portion of the case substantially reduces the
chance of death.

--- Hiring counsel is not related to wealth. Almost all capital
defendants are poor.

======

Some other considerations, nationally.1) Very rarely are poor
murderers sentenced to death and executed.99.8% of poor murderers have avoided execution.

There have been about 700,000
murders (1973-2012), 1973 being when the first new death penalty statutes were enacted,
after Furman v Georgia. Possibly 10% of those may be death penalty eligible, or about
70,000 (a). From 1973-2012, about 1300 capital murderers have been executed, or 0.19%
out of 700,000 or 1.9% out of 70,000. The overwhelming majority of those
murderers are poor.Even more rare and much less often, per capita, I venture,
do the wealthy commit capital murder. Is a significantly smaller percentage of
wealthy capital murderers, less than 1.9%, likely to be executed?(b). Yes, but for circumstances other than private counsel.2)
It appears, solely, dependent upon one's definition of "wealthy" and "poor", as to whether
wealthy murderers are any more or less likely to be executed, based upon the
very small number and percentage of capital murders that are committed by the
wealthy, as compared to the poor.Possibly, your definition of "wealthy" will find, more or less, that 99.8% of wealthy capital murderers have avoided execution, just as the "poor" have.3) The two most frequent crimes which put murderers on death row
are robbery/murders and rape/murderers. I suspect wealthy murderers are much
less likely, per capita, to commit such crimes, when compared to poor murderers.
NOTE: There are a number of cases whereby children murdered their parents for an
inheritance. I don't know if those children qualified as wealthy, either before
or after those murders.4) According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics
Capital Punishment Series, 65% of those on death row had a prior felony
conviction, with 7-8% having a prior murder conviction. I strongly
suspect that wealthy murderers, per capita, are less likely, per capita, to have
either of those priors than are poor murderers. Criminal backgrounds are important in
death penalty cases. This, alone, may explain any alleged disparity between the
wealthy and the poor, if there is any.For example, in the Menendez
brothers case, whereby they murdered their parents, ". . . the jury rejected the
death penalty because neither brother had a felony record or a history of
violence. " NOTE from Sharp: Astounding that their history of violence against
their parents was not enough.5) Accounting for 3 and 4, the wealthy may be 5-10 times less likely to commit capital murders per capita and/or have existing criminal records which would make it more likely for them to be prosecuted for a death penalty eligible crime and/or sentenced to death. Correcting for those circumstances, we might expect the wealthy to be executed at a rate of 0.2-0.4% of the time they commit a capital murder, based upon the numbers in (1) above. (5 to 10 times less than 1.9%).There is a reason there are few wealthy on death row or executed. In gross numbers, as well as per capita, they are much less likely to commit capital murder.6) In Mark Castanzo's book "Just Revenge:
Costs and Consequences of the Death Penalty", he claimed that 2/3 of death
penalty trials ended with a sanction less than death. Overwhelmingly,
such means that poor murderers will be getting the vast majority of those
benefits. Are wealthy murderers more likely to receive that benefit, per
capita? Unlikely, based upon 3, 4 & 5, above, and (c) below.7) 37% of all death row inmates have their cases overturned on
appeal. Again, overwhelmingly, such means that poor murderers will be getting
the vast majority of those benefits. Are wealthy death row murderers more
likely, per capita, to receive that benefit? Unlikely, based upon 4 above and (c) below.8) I have been told,
repeatedly, with no supportive evidence, that 90% of those on death row had a
public defender. Such would mean that some percentage of those on death row,
close to 10%, must have some wealth to hire private counsel. I would be astounded if the percentage were
that high. If it is true, then there is no truth that the
wealthy are barred or protected from death row or execution, based upon their
wealth and ability to hire better counsel, if not just more
expensive counsel.In fact, based upon (c) below, we may be executing the wealthy at a higher rate than the poor.Again, how one defines "wealthy" and "poor" may be the determining factor.======I will continue to believe that truly wealthy
capital defendants/murderers, who can hire the finest counsel, must have an
advantage over their poorer ilk, but that the database of wealthy capital
murderers is so small as to, likely, make moot any statistical
relevance.Keep in mind that, so far, poor capital murderers are avoiding
execution about 98% of the time - and I don't think we have any evidence that
wealthy capital murderers are executed substantially less than 1.9% of the
time (1 above), or a properly corrected 0.2-0.4% of the time (5 above).We may even be executing wealthy murderers at a rate higher than expected. See (c) below.

======(a) While many of those murders would have multiple victims,
so to would many also have multiple murderers. So, while 50,000 cases may be
death penalty eligible, because of multiple victims, it will, also, say that
70,000 murderers will be subject to execution, based upon some cases having
multiple offenders.(b) I have not tried to compile a list of the wealthy
on death row, in the modern era. I just happen to know of these.Some
wealthy, sent to death row. Garza and Smith have been executed.Robert
Marshall (New Jersey), Thomas Capano (Delaware), Juan Raul Garza (federal),
Markum Duff Smith (Texas)(c) 13) THE WEALTHY AND DEATH ROW - Contrary to opponents claims, there
is no systemic evidence that wealthy capital murderers are less likely
to be executed that their poorer ilk. Drawing only on personal knowledge,
with no study, I found that since 1973, in Texas, alone, at least seven middle class
to wealthy murderers have been put on death row. Four, Markum Duff Smith,
George Lott, Robert Black, Jr., and Ronald O'Bryan have been executed.
Three additional await execution. Extensive, objective research would,
undoubtedly, reveal many more. Don’t forget John Wayne Gacy. Furthermore, Dr. Joseph Katz found that, while 74% of all Georgia murder
defendants were poor, only 38% of those on death row were poor (McCleskey). Informed Speculation: 5% of the U.S. population (12 million) can afford
to pay the $400,000* cost for their capital trial and appeals. Because
financial need can be excluded, the category of wealthy capital murderer
can be assumed to murder at a rate 10 times less than their poorer ilk. Fact: 0.20% of the U.S. population commits murder. 1.3% of those are sentenced
to death. Only 6% of those have been executed. Therefore, the projected
number of wealthy executed from 1976-1996 is 2 , or 12 million x .1 x .0020
x .013 x .06. Using 1973-1996 data. *conservative estimate based on opponents’
high cost claims (see E) From C.
RACE, SENTENCING AND THE DEATH PENALTY, DEATH PENALTY AND SENTENCING INFORMATION In the United States, Dudey Sharp, 10/1/97, found 5/26/13, at http://www.prodeathpenalty.com/dp.html#C.RaceUPDATE: RACE & THE DEATH PENALTY: A REBUTTAL TO THE RACISM CLAIMS (2013)http://prodpinnc.blogspot.com/2012/07/rebuttal-death-penalty-racism-claims.html

======1) Brief "Hire a lawyer, Escape the Death Penalty"

By Scott Phillips, February 2010

This Issue Brief is based on an article entitled Legal Disparities in the
Capital of Capital Punishment, 99 J. CRIM. L. & CRIMINOLOGY 717 (2009). The
findings described here are confirmed in the multivariate statistical models
presented in the full paper. The author may be contacted by mail at Scott
Phillips; Department of Sociology and Criminology; University of Denver; 2000 E.
Asbury Avenue; Denver, CO 80208-2948; or by email at Scott.Phillips@du.edu.